Rep. Rob Bresnahan claims Medicaid will grow by $200 billion after voting for cuts

GOP US Rep. Rob Bresnahan recently stated that Medicaid will cost more despite voting to cut it by $1 trillion. 

As US Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Lackawanna) makes claims about President Donald Trump’s $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, questions about his math arise. 

“Speaking of also what’s gonna grow: Medicaid, by $200 billion over the next 10 years,” Bresnahan said on the Volpe Report alongside US House Speaker Mike Johnson. 

“I really take offense to someone saying that we are cutting the Medicaid programs, because this is actually going to continue to grow into the tune of $200 billion.”

[RELATED: 20 billionaires and counting: US Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s ultra-wealthy donors revealed]

According to some, Bresnahan is playing a game of semantics. 

“[Bresnahan’s statement] is an extremely misleading statement,” Laura Beltran, Director of Policy and Research at the Pennsylvania Policy Center, told The Keystone. 

“ We know from the Congressional Budget Office, we are expecting around $900 billion to $990 billion in cuts, and that $200 billion claim is basically that.” 

The rising cost figure doesn’t figure in the cut from the GOP budget bill passed this summer.

“That’s the additional spending we’re going to see over the next 10 years,” Beltran added. “That does not take into account the change from the current law to the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ changes.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Humans Services estimates that 310,000 residents will lose their health care coverage because of these cuts with over 21,000 of Bresnahan’s constituents being impacted by the cuts. 

Bresnahan’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of this writing.

“ The $200 billion growth [Bresnahan’s] talking about is clearly about cost and not coverage, and we know that, according to our wallets, costs are rising,” Michelle Rothenbecker, the Chief of Staff with Action Together NEPA, said in an interview with The Keystone. 

Rothenbecker went on to explain how Bresnahan’s statements are out of touch with those living in his district. 

She added, “ Rob Bresnahan clearly is doing quite well for himself and he’s earned a lot of money since taking office through insider stock trades, especially one that we saw where he sold some stocks related to Medicaid right before that decision was made. We’ve also seen that he has a helicopter he’s keeping secret.”

Bresnahan has become one of Congress’ most prolific stock traders since January. A month before voting for the budget, the New York Times reported that Bresnahan sold between $100,000 and $250,000 in bonds from the Allegheny County Hospital Development Authority for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center after it was announced that 10 rural hospitals were at risk of closing.

“I just don’t think that he is living the same lifestyle, or the same life that a lot of people in Luzerne County and Lackawanna County are living as their reality,” Rothenbecker said. “People are seeing a lot less money in their paychecks, but they’re also not seeing their money going as far.”